Al Pacino to Play Joe Paterno in HBO's Sandusky Movie

The film was in pre-production in fall 2014 when it was put on hold over budget issues, with De Palma leaving soon thereafter.

Barry Levinson, who just directed HBO'sThe Wizard of Lies, is set to direct and executive produce the movie.

No other stars have been attached to the film, which does not have a release date or a title at this time.

It is unknown if the script, which will be written by Debora Cahn, John C. Richards and David McKenna, according to Deadline, will still center around Joe Posnanski's biography "Paterno", as previously reported by Deadline in 2012. Lindsay Sloane also is exec producing for HBO Films and Sony Pictures Television.

Pacino is now the only actor tabbed to appear in the film. He died in January 2012 due to complications of lung cancer at age 85. In the football world and furthermore, in the Penn State community, Paterno's legacy as a leader and motivator of multiple generations has contributed to what makes him a legendary figure.

Sandusky was an assistant at Penn State from 1969-99.

The Penn State football program initially received a four-year postseason ban, vacated 111 wins under Paterno and lost 40 scholarships. Levinson and Pacino's HBO movie will presumably focus more on Paterno's career as a child-molestation enabler than as a football coach. He starred as Dr. Jack Kevorkian in You Don't Know Jack and Phil Spector in Phil Spector.

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